Tag Archives: solar energy in honduras

Honduras is a country where news about massacres, multiple forms of violence, corruption, instability and political intrigues usually comes out and in which two thirds of its 8 million inhabitants live in poverty while the 10% who receive higher salaries, accounting for 42% of national income and poorest 10% only receives 0.17%.

However, there is a sector in which Honduras stands out at regional level: renewable energies and, especially, solar energy.

Honduran government introduced fiscal incentives for photovoltaic installations in 2013.

A tariff supplement for first 300 PV MW that entered into operation before August 1, 2015 was also approved.

In 2015, Honduras and Chile were the largest PV markets in Latin America.

At the end of 2017, total private capital investment for PV plants construction exceeded US$ 1,600 million.

Investment has been divided into 12 solar plants that are already operational and add up to 405 MW; 39% of country’s private sector renewable capacity, amounting to 1,047.07 MW.

In general calculation, 61% of country’s energy comes from renewables, and in 2017 it became the first country in the world with 10% solar energy in its electric mix.

Most emblematic project is Nacaome-Valle Solar Park, which generates the energy consumed by some 150,000 Honduran families every day.

It has 480,480 modules with capacity to produce up to 125 MW of alternating current (AC) peak power.

It took more than 1,000 material containers, US$ 240 million in investment and the help of more than 1,200 employees who changed shifts without stopping, to build and start operating the plant in less than 2 years.

Photovoltaic modules receive the radiation to generate between 600 and 850 V, in CC form. With use of inverters, this energy is converted into AC, which passes through transformers to raise its Voltage to 34.5 kV and distribute it around the park.

Finally, this current is transmitted to plant electrical substation, where voltage rises to 230 kV to be transmitted throughout the country by Central American Electric Network, which arrives from El Salvador, passes through Honduras and goes to Nicaragua. .

The Nacaome solar plant has been an engine of economic, scientific and academic development for Honduras people and a monumental engineering work that has put Central American nation on sustainable energy industry international map.

Construction of Los Prados solar park, which would have 53 MW and should have started operations at end of 2016, is being halted by local residents protests who fear possible damage to their people caused by the park.

A solution is currently being sought between authorities and settlers, since everything is ready for work execution, but news is not encouraging.

Honduras is one of the 148 countries in the world with best solar energy generation potential; however, solar thermal energy barely wakes up from several decades of stagnation and at present, its participation is not relevant in the national energy matrix.

Solar thermal energy has a unique competitive potential in the “Sunbelt” countries, characterized by high levels of solar radiation and, often, high prices in energy tariffs.

In Honduras, Choluteca and Valle are the areas with greatest solar energy generation potential, since a maximum annual average of 8.4 hours per day is registered.

February, March and April are the months of greatest solar energy availability in the country, in February there is up to 9.1 sunshine hours on average per year for country southern area.

Other places with high solar potential are in part of Lempira department and Francisco Morazán southern area.

As it happens in almost all Latin American countries, there is no solar thermal energy development according to its enormous potential.

Its performance is twice that of photovoltaic solar energy and is the purest expression of distributed generation.

In Honduras, its implantation in residential sector is scarce and there are only isolated cases in commercial and industrial sectors.

An example is the meat plant where a solar thermal system was installed to heat sanitizing water in production area, trays and tables cleaning, pigs blanching, slaughter tools sterilization, sausages cooking and smoking.

Water volume consumed was classified into two types: sanitation and processes.

The advantage of working with the solar thermal system is basically that a volume of preheated water is given to the boiler system.

Initial thermal variation of 20º to 165º C is reduced to a thermal variation of 90º to 165º C, this 70º C difference in temperature is equivalent to the saving (48% in average) provided by solar thermal system as complementary to industrial boiler system.

Another example is the dairy plant in which a solar thermal system was also installed.

In this case, energy efficiency measures were previously applied to reduce hot water consumed volume.

Main one was industrial water guns withstand temperatures higher than 100 ° C implementation.

A thermal solar system with heat pipe collectors was installed, which contributes to sanitization processes and boiler water consumption.

In year highest radiation times, system can cover 97% of monthly boiler water consumed, and 82% on maximum consumption day.

It can also provide up to 90% of total water consumed for production area sanitization.

It can even provide hot water at 42º C for yoghurt preparation.

Solar thermal energy potential in Honduras and in Latin America in general is currently not being exploited.

An exhaustive project survey and analysis allow us to know, a priori, savings will be obtained, initial investment and the generally low maintenance costs.

In Choluteca department is the majority of them, with 40 solar plants, followed by Valle department with 9 solar plants, and of Yoro department with 7 solar plants.

Biomass has become a very profitable business for Honduran cane and sawmills that produce renewable energy from this technology, which involves using organic waste as a raw material to heat water and produce electrical energy with steam by using turbines.

Greatest cane generation is obtained from cane bagasse combustion.

It was once a problem to get rid of it and suddenly it has become a multimillion dollar business for sugarcane.

Most important wind farms are Mesoamerica (105 MW) and San Marcos (50 MW). A wind farm currently under construction will contribute 45 MW more.

Work is already being completed on Platanares geothermal plant (35 MW) in the department of Copán.

The amount of energy generated by geothermal and biomass plants is much lower.

In case of geothermal plants it amounts to 60 MW and in case of biomass plants to 97.66 MW.

The other side of the coin is reflected in data from Observatory of Natural Property and Human Rights (OBNDH) study published in 2015 indicating that in relation to acts of Human Rights violation, renewable energy generation companies advance entails an intrinsic violation of territories claimed as ancestral rights.

Tolupan, Garífuna, Miskito and Lenca are the most affected groups, according to the OBNDH study.

The study points out that for indigenous and Garífuna groups, for their organizations and human rights organizations, the Honduran State is the main responsible for making human rights situation in original groups territories so fragile.